Under Wrapped Minds
by Art n' Music
Summary: A boring day. Another caught criminal. Seems like it'll be another boring day for Ben Tennyson. Until he finds a familiar alien chasing down an innocent little girl. But the way her arm stretches around, maybe she's not so innocent. So then who, or what, is she?
1. A New Weirdness Appears

**Chapter 1: A New Weirdness Appears**

In the city of Austin, Texas, a bank's front door explodes along with large parts of the wall, sending debris everywhere and almost squishing a few strolling civilians. A criminal jumps through of the smoke billowing out of the newly made hole, carrying two bags in one hand, a trench coat full of more money, and a masked man with wary eye. He looks around at the frightened people and chuckles a little then runs into the shadows. After running for half a mile, the thief stops at a rundown warehouse and laughs, saying, "Oh, with this much money, I'll be able to buy anything I want! Oh, glorious!"

"I don't think so," a gruff voice says in the shadows.

Hearing the unknown voice, the crook looks around his hideout wildly, looking for the intruder. He starts running away when something on the floor trips him, making him drop his stolen cash. He turns around on the ground and couldn't believe what he saw. For a second, the crook thought he saw a dark green tentacle slither around before it disappears in the ground. "Wha-what's going on?" After stumbling back to his feet, he tries to run away when another green tentacle wraps around his ankle and lifts him in the air, making the money-filled coat fall off. Frightened beyond measures, the criminal again looks around when a green pod grows out of the stone ground and form into a vine-covered body with a one-eyed head inside an open pod edged with teeth. The creature looks up at the thief and grins, saying, "Wildvine 1, criminal zitta."

"What the heck are you?" the crook asks while swinging around. A vine wraps around his mouth, quieting him to Wildvine's pleasure.

"There. That's better," the plant says, spooking the trapped criminal even more. A vine brings over one of the bags and shakes his head, clicking his tongue. "Oh man. These criminals are so first month of summer. Would it kill you to be more original?"

Sirens wail outside the factory and the thief struggles in the clutches of the vines, trying vainly to get out. The plant turns his head to the door, which is now glowing white, and he says, "Looks like the police are here. I hope you can hang around," before sinking back into the ground, dropping the bag. The police kicks the door open and rush in armed only to find the crook hanging upside down by a vine. The commander says, "Looks like the alien helps us again."

Awhile away, Wildvine grows out of some dirt and heads into an old RV parked along the curb when a black and white hourglass symbol on his chest starts beeping red and in a flash of the same color the plant turns into a ten year old boy with shaggy brown hair and green eyes wearing a white shirt with black stripes down the middle and on the sleeves, dark green cargo jeans, and regular sneakers. "Man, this vacation is starting to get boring now."

"Well, with no alien in sight, of course it's going to get boring," says Ben's cousin, Gwen, a smart redhead that has the same colored eyes as Ben but wears a blue shirt with a cat in the middle, white jeans, and white shoes. "Now the only crime around here is thievery. Maybe now I can catch up on my book." She picks up a novel on her bed and starts flipping through to her last read page.

"Geek," the alien morpher mumbles before grabbing his hand-held game console and jumps onto the table booth. The door opens again and a senior with gray hair and a large build walks in, carrying two paper bags. "Ben, you're back," Max says when he spots his grandson.

"Yeah and bored out of my skull," he says, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I can see it was another easy mission." He goes ahead and puts the groceries away in the small kitchen. He looks again at the hero and notices how concentrated he is in the game. "Is something bugging you?"

"Nothing, except that I'm getting tired of all these common crimes everywhere we go. I want some real action! I want to kick some alien butt!"

"Now Ben, you should be glad there isn't an alien trying to kill you almost every day. Enjoy the break you have right now."

"Well I'm enjoying it so much it's become boring." Ben turns back to his game before saying, "The most thrilling battle I had was when I fought the Yaneldooshi in New Mexico, the mummy in South Carolina, and even Ghostfreak. I wish there'll be another one like those."

"Oh well." Grandpa Max heads to the driver's seat, noticing how dark the world has become. "You two should get some rest. We're heading to Louisiana now and I want you all bright eyed and bushy-tailed when we get there."

"Alright grandpa," the two grandchildren say. Ben shuts off his game and heads to his bed at the back of the RV while Gwen sets her marked book down and covering up, both not bothering to change. After they collapse on the stiff mattress, Max starts up his ride and drives toward the highway that'll lead to the next state.

Nearby at a food stand, a girl about nine years old hides in the shadows, wearing a bleached pink baggy hoodie that covers her head from sight, gloves, jeans that are five times her small size, and worn-out boots. She looks over at the delicious food displayed outside and her stomach growls loudly. She wraps her arms around it then looks back at the food. "Oh. I really hate doing this," she mutters. The girl sneaks to the side of the stand and pokes her head over the side, eyeing which one of the fruits to take. She finally grabs a few grapes and oranges, putting them in her hoodie pocket, and grabs an apple when she hears, "Hey, you!"

The thief turns around and spots a strolling policeman running after her. "Don't you move!"

She sighs boringly, knowing that she can escape the person easily, but when she looks behind the man, her face turns white as a sheet with wide eyes and she runs the opposite way. The police chase after her with a stun gun in one hand and handcuffs in the other.

The girl runs through a dirty alleyway and jumps over the wall to the other side, running into an empty road. When she reaches halfway across, a tan RV drives over and shines its light on the girl, revealing her shocked face. The driver, Max Tennyson, gasps and slams down on the brakes, sliding Ben off his bed to the front but not stopping before slamming into the unfortunate girl. The hero climbs up and looks out the window, watching the girl skid across the road painfully. "Ouch. Grandpa, what'd you do?"

"I swear, it was an accident. The girl just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I tried stopping but it didn't work."

"To their surprise, the girl hurriedly gets to her feet and twists around, clearly unharmed. Ben, shocked, says, "Now that is one tough girl. But what's with the fashion?"

"Huh, she must be homeless."

The girl looks back to where she came then runs away really fast. The ten-year-old watches her disappear, wondering what she's running from, when a black mass whisks in and out of sight. Ben backs up and says, "Whoa. What was that?"

"I don't know, but I got a suspicious feeling on what it may be."

"You're not the only one." He reaches for the Omnitrix on his wrist and starts it up. After twisting the top until he finds the alien he wants, the hero slams it down and turns into Heatblast after a flash of green light. He runs out of the Rustbucket and chases after the girl, lighting up the night.

Meanwhile, the girl continues running through the shadows, panting hard and trying to escape It. Something shoots near her head and she ducks and change course. When she trips and looks back in fear, she doesn't spot the monster but she does see a person on fire running out of the alley and turning toward her with glowing yellow eyes and a flaming head. The girl whimpers and quickly gets up to run away but Heatblast shouts, "Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!"

He runs after her but something wraps around his body and tosses him away. The alien gets up; rubbing his flames, and mutters, "Those tentacles looked familiar." He spots a shadow vanish down the corner, the same place the girl went. Guessing what the shadow wants, Heatblast creates his fireboard and launches into the sky to shorten his trip.

The girl stumbles around another corner and dodges another tentacle that wraps around a lamppost. It throws it at her but she ducks and jumps over the sparking pole, stumbling before continuing running. She rushes into an alley but quickly stops when she finds a brick wall dead-end. She places her hands on the wall to see its real then quickly twists around to the entrance, waiting for whatever is chasing her to appear. A large shadow appears on the ground and the girl moves to a fetal position, closing her eyes so not to see It.

The dark being is about to walk into the alley when a bright light appears from above. The creature looks back at the defenseless girl then walks back, disappearing from view. A few seconds later, alien-Ben lands in front of the alley and looks around for the mysterious shadow when he instead finds the girl. "Hey, you okay?"

The girl opens her eyes and spots the fire-man. She yelps and tries to scoot back while Heatblast walks up, the firelight flickering around the alley and reflecting in her terrified eyes. Ben says, "It's alright. I won't hurt you."

The girl isn't convinced and she backs up into a corner while getting to her feet. Heatblast takes a step closer and finally lights up the girl and he finally sees her face in the hoodie. He sees a nine year old pale face with sweet chocolate-brown eyes and long black hair with long bangs reaching down the side of her face and covering a part of her left eye. _Wow, _Ben thinks, slightly mesmerized.

The girl looks around and finds a steel pipe sticking out of the side of the building above the wall. She looks back at the fiery alien who says, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk."

She shakes her head and raises her arm. To Heatblast's surprise, her arm stretches beyond a regular person's and grabs onto the pipe. She lifts her body up, retracting her lengthened arm, and vanishes behind the wall, leaving Ben confused at the feet. He flies up over the wall and looks around to find the girl is gone. He continues glancing around for her when the Rustbucket appears and Max opens the door. "Ben, who're you looking for?"

"The girl you accidently ran into or the shadow thing. They both just vanished."

The senior looks around too before saying, "Well come on. We still have to get to Louisiana before there's ton of traffic."

Heatblast floats back down and turn back to Ben after the watch times out. He asks, "But what about the girl?"

"Right now, it's not our concern. But who knows? Maybe we'll meet her again."

The grandson sighs and walks back in the RV, letting Max return to driving to the highway. Ben lies back down and tries to get to sleep but he couldn't stop thinking about the girl, even after playing his favorite game. Something about her just intrigues the hero. Maybe it's her ability to stretch her limbs. Either way, he couldn't forget her no matter what. _This is going to be a long night,_ he thinks. _Hopefully tomorrow will help me get my mind straight._


	2. It's Her

**Chapter 2: It's Her**

After a full night ride, the Rustbucket gang reaches New Orleans, Louisiana. Gwen stares all over the city and wonders where they should stop first. Meanwhile, Ben stares out the window, not paying attention to the scenery but instead of yesterday's events. _Wonder who that girl was?_

"Hey Ben, you okay?" Gwen asks.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure? Because you looked more spaced out than usual. Is it that girl again?"

"Well yeah. Who else?"

Gwen smirks and crosses her arms, saying in baby talk, "Does little Ben have a crush again?"

"What? No! I mean, she's not normal. I saw her arm stretch out like it was rubber and grab a pole that was like ten feet above her. There's something going on with that girl and I want to find out."

"But to do that, you need to find her first," the cousin reasons, "and she's most likely back in Texas."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I have a plan," the hero says with a grin.

Grandpa Max says, "Ben, you are not turning to XLR8 and flashing back to Texas. We are here on vacation in New Orleans. That's it."

"Alright, fine." He slumps back on the booth seat with crossed arms and a sour face. The senior shakes his head and parks along a curb nearby a museum. The redhead looks up at the building and smiles, saying, "Cool. I can use this time to get up on the history of New Orleans. I could use it on a history report."

"Ugh, school talk? Gwen, this is summer vacation."

"You know, you could learn a thing or two in museums. Maybe it'll help you when in battle. If there will be a battle soon."

"So? There's nothing in museums except old, dusty junk. Why would I look at that when there's all these cool technology all around us?"

"I heard there might be alien tech on display," she says in a singing voice.

After thinking about it, the alien morpher says, "Just one trip."

The three walk out of the RV and up the stairs to the large, three-story museum. The first they saw is the lobby with different families walking around at the different art that are displayed. Gwen and Max examine one brightly colored artwork with interest but Ben just walks around, his hands in his pocket and having a bored expression on. With nothing to distract him, he instantly thinks of the girl again. _She looks normal enough, for being a homeless, _he thinks, _But how could she stretch her arm? Maybe she's an elastic shapeshifting alien. That could be possible. But why would a young alien be here? She didn't look like she wanted the Omnitrix or she would've tried to take it. She also looked scared of me. _

"Ben…"

_And what was that shadow that was chasing her? Maybe there's something she has that the thing wants._

"Ben."

_Maybe it's no stranger. Its tentacles did look familiar. I wonder if it was…_

"Ben!"

He looks up when he hears his name and sees Gwen staring at him. "What?"

"You were spacing out. Again."

"Can you blame me? There are two major mysteries that are really bugging me. One is the girl with the stretchy arm and the other is that shadow thing."

"Ben, they're all the way back in Texas. You don't have to worry about them anymore. Now come on. They're starting the tour."

Sighing, the hero follows his cousin to a crowd forming at the glass doors. From then on, it was really boring for the hero. While the museum guide talks of the history artifacts and their connection to New Orleans, Ben just lazily walks around, not caring for any of the history. After walking away from a rock that didn't look so interesting, the hero accidently runs into the redhead who growls. The morpher raises his arms in surrender then, when Gwen turns back to the guide, he was about to walk away when he notices something on the rock that looks interesting. For once, he listens to the guide who says, "And this was found by an archeologist that brought it back to New Orleans from Egypt. As you can see here, the Egyptians believed of a plague that once roamed their lands a thousand years ago, destroying the people's way of life." On the stone, there are small Egyptian people at various places of the stone, all with terrorized face and all looking at one large figure. Ben shivers when he sees the skirt-wearing mummy with flailing ribbons smack-dab in the middle of the picture, its headpiece-wearing head looking in the air as if it's yelling, or maybe roaring.

The guide continues, "The monster appears as a giant mummy-like beast. People say that someone angered their gods and they sent a creature of mass destruction to destroy everything in sight. Millions have died trying to take the monster down, even more from the wrath of the beast. They have finally subdued the beast after a great war but, having no knowledge of how to destroy it, trapped the mummy back in the sarcophagus from which it came and put a bunch of spells and locks as well as superbly complicated booby traps so no one shall bring the monster back. As far as we know, it's still trapped in Egypt under tons of sand in a secret cavern so you won't have to worry about it coming back anytime soon. Now if you could follow me over here," He leads the group to an ancient sarcophagus but Ben stays behind and examines the stone again, particularly the mummy. One of the ribbons on his back is holding a screaming Egyptian that's holding a spear. It looks similar to the mummy alien he met in South Carolina that maybe they are probably related but he wonders why there was one in Egypt thousands of years ago.

Gwen sneaks behind him and says, spooking her cousin, "Finally interested in history, huh?"

The alien hero turns around and asks, "Doesn't this mummy look familiar to you?"

She looks at the picture and says bluntly, "No."

"What? Gwen, this mummy looks like the mummy we fought in South Carolina at the barn. The one that was looking for Corrodium."

"Uh, I don't see the resemblance. Maybe the lack of adrenaline is messing with your brain."

"I'm serious. But why would a mummy alien be in ancient Egypt?"

"Hmm. Maybe because there was no alien mummy in ancient Egypt. It was probably a scary story the people told their kids or a prankster. You're probably related to him," she says with a smirk.

The Omnitrix wielder rolls his eyes and says "Oh hardy-har har."

"C'mon. We're gonna lose the group." She runs back to the tour crowd but her cousin stays behind, noticing the mummy holding something in one of its wrappings, a rock of some sort but the paint has peeled off. After a few seconds of thinking, he decides to catch up to the group. Unfortunately, there isn't anything else that looks interesting like the stone slab. Four times he almost fell asleep but Gwen elbows him in the stomach. Finally, what felt like hours, Ben and the others walk out of the dark museum and out to bright sunshine. The hero says, "Finally, out of that torturous building."

"Torturous? What about that stone you couldn't get your eyes off of?" Gwen reasons.

Max asks, "Uh, what stone?"

"The one with the mummy on it."

"Alien mummy," Ben corrects.

"Alien mummy?"

The redhead cousin explains, "Dweeb here thinks that the mummy on the stone is the same mummy we met at the barn."

"Because it is!"

"Do you have proof?"

"Well, not really."

The ex-plumber says, "Ben, for all we know, it was just a legend from ancient Egypt. You don't have to worry about it. Now come on. It's almost lunchtime and I think you deserve a treat."

"And by treat, you mean fast food?" Ben guesses.

"Food that doesn't have bugs in it?" his cousin asks eagerly.

"Yes."

The cousins' high-five and run to the Rustbucket, eager to eat real, edible food, when an explosion sounds from a hidden building. The alien fighting gang turns around and sees smoke coming from the edge of the city and Ben says, "Looks like fast food will have to wait. It's hero time!" He turns the dial of the Omnitrix and stops when XLR8's silhouette appears, slamming it down and vanishing in a green flash. When it clears, Ben appears as Upgrade instead of the speedy alien. "What? Come on. Will you ever work the way I want, you stupid watch?" The alien jumps and merges with a nearby car, improving the car to a high-tech vehicle far beyond the world's knowledge of technology. Jets morphs on the trunk of the car and Ben speeds across the streets, heading toward the smoke at the edge of the city. Max and Gwen hurry to the RV and the senior starts up his jets so to keep up.

The hero gets to the attacked building in a few seconds and finds that it's a laboratory and there's a gaping hole on the side, big enough for a T-Rex to fit in. He morphs back into his body and walks into the lab, finding it trashed inside out. Unconscious scientists are littered everywhere, some hanging on wires, others under metal parts. Upgrade asks to no one in particular, "What happened in here?" He hears a groan from the side and turns to see one scientist struggling to escape his metal trap. Ben hurries over to throw the trash away and he helps the man up to his feet, asking, "Dude, what happened?"

"I don't know myself. We were just doing our job when suddenly this…mummy appears and started destroying everything. It then headed that way." He points toward another giant hole in the wall. The metamorphic metal mumbles, "Mummy?"

The scientist looks up at Ben then runs off, screaming his head off.

"Oh come on. I'm not that ugly!" He walks through the hole the scientist pointed to and follows the carnage everywhere. "First a mummy on a rock now a mummy trashing a science lab. Why do I have the feeling the two are connected?" he mutters to himself. The alien stops and grabs a ribbon hanging from a broken pipe that is colored light brown. "Mummy wrapping. Must be close." A crash concur his theory and the alien hero looks up, finding another ripped hole that has lights flashing everywhere. He jumps and stretches toward the entrance then reforms to look around. Different types of rocks are displayed on platforms in glass cases and on the walls are lined with small safes. Ben continues to check the room and asks, "What is this place? A rock museum?" That's when he sees the one who destroyed the laboratory. True to the scientist's words, a large mummy wearing an Egyptian skirt and headpiece and having four ribbons hanging on his back and wrapped in nothing but the ribbons, even the toes and fingers. When it turns, he sees the face is covered in shadow and has glowing purple eyes, his mouth covered in the same headpiece. His arms, legs, and chest glow in the same purple glow in the gaps. Ben gasps when he recognizes it and shouts, "You! I thought I put you on ice!"

The mummy narrows his eyes and grabs a nearby case with one of his bandages to throw at the metal blob. Ben creates a hole in himself and lets the case fly harmlessly through to only make it crash to pieces and destroying the rock. Before Upgrade can move, a bandage wraps around his waist and he is thrown away. After crashing into the thick metal wall, the alien morpher slides down to the ground and starts rubbing his head, groaning. The mummy turns back around and rips the safe door apart, letting out a purple glow and catching the metamorphic metal's attention. "Hold it right there. Whatever is in that safe, you're not getting your bandages on it."

"That's where you're wrong," the mummy whispers, shocking Ben. He says, "The mummy couldn't talk before." He gets back up and runs after the mummy who walks into the room. It stops and stares at the glowing purple stone in front of him, smiling in his own alien way, when Upgrade finally catches up and gets a glimpse of the stone. If he was human, his skin would have turned to the color of paper when he recognizes the stone before it's taken into its chest. The mummy turns around to his enemy and orders, "Now move or suffer the consequences."

"Not when you hold the Corrodium in your chest. What are you going to do with that anyway?"

"None of your concern, human. Now move."

"Make me," Ben challenges, readying his fists. The bandaged thief shoots out his hand to capture the alien but he swirls around it and takes over a machine nearby. He sends robotic tentacles to get the mummy but he unravels around them and makes his way to the exit.

"Oh no you don't!" Ben shouts, merging into a trashed wheeled robot and chasing after the creature with blazing guns. All the lasers pass harmlessly through it, never stopping it or even slowing it down. "Man, can't this mummy take a hit?"

Just when the mummy reaches his exit, an RV blocks the path and Max walks out the door with a plumber gun. "I don't think so." He pulls on the trigger and sends a barrage of beams but they all fly through and instead head straight for Upgrade. "Whoa!" He quickly moves to another machine and lets the rays blast the rolling machine apart.

"Sorry Ben," Grandpa Max apologies. The mummy uses the distraction to his advantage and he knocks the old man into the building. Thinking quickly, the hero sends his tentacles again and stops his grandpa from becoming a stain on the wall.

The mummy turns around and meets a redhead girl with blue-glowing hands. "_Tara Tremmo Eradico_!" she shouts clearly. Two columns nearby are covered in the blue glow and are ripped off the building before flying toward the mummy on both sides, squishing it like a bug. The glow vanishes and the pillars fall on the ground, giving Gwen a satisfying smile. She turns to her cousin with a frown and asks, "I thought you froze the mummy and buried him underneath an ice cream factory."

"I'm not so sure it's the same mummy," Ben states, morphing back into humanoid blob. "Unlike the other mummy, this one can talk. Or at least whispers."

The two are too busy discussing about the mummy that they don't see the wrappings slithering out from the stone and twisting back into a body. Once the head appears above the bandages, it turns around at the two cousins and the redhead says, "So you're saying that there are other mummies out in space?"

"Why not?" Upgrade asks. "There are other Daimondheads and most likely other Graymatters and other Heatblasts."

Suddenly, a bandage wraps around Gwen's waist and swings her around, making her scream hysterically. When the alien mummy lets go, the redhead screams louder as she falls but Ben quickly upgrades the Rustbucket and catches his cousin with the extended awning. She bounces and lands painfully on the ground then growls, "Thanks for nothing, Dweeb."

"Hey, at least I tried." The alien morpher looks down at the symbol that's now beeping red and he transform back, sitting on top of the RV. "Uh oh." He quickly looks around for the mummy only to find it's disappeared. "Hey, where'd the mummy go?"

"It ran off while I was falling to my doom. Duh."

The cousin says sarcastically, "So you it was your fault he escaped."

"Now don't you start, you two," the ex-plumber orders while getting into his RV. "C'mon! We need to find the mummy before it gets away."

The two hurry inside and Max dashes back to town to start the search for a rampaging alien. They travel all over the town, scanning every inch of the area, but they haven't found any trace of the mummy or rampage. The trio looks again but doesn't find anything again. The Omnitrix long since recharged but Ben is just sitting at the table with his head down, bored. Meanwhile, Gwen's eyes glow while she searches for the mummy with her magic. Her eyes return to the normal green and she sighs then says, "I can't trace it."

"Maybe it disappeared. Like back in Texas," Ben guesses.

Suddenly, a shriek alerts the two cousins and senior and the two run to the window. In front of them, they see a girl in an oversized faint pink jacket and large jeans running away from something. Max stops the Rustbucket and watches the girl run across the vehicle and down the road. The alien hero says, "That's the girl I saw in Texas!" He turns to his annoying cousin and mocks, "And you said she was still in Austin."

"Okay! My mistake. But how did she get here in the first place? And what is she running from?"

"The police?"

To answer, a large being appears in and goes after the girl and the group recognizes it as the mummy they're looking for. Gwen says, "That's one old policeman."

"Looks like the girl needs some help," the ex-plumber states.

"On it." Ben dials in Fourarms and jumps after the alien that's chasing the girl.

The little girl running for her life jumps across a car and screams when a bandage crashes next to her foot. She turns and finds the mummy still chasing her, sending ribbon after ribbon toward her. She dodges every last one of them but then trips on a crack in the sidewalk and slides onto a car. After checking her head, she gasps when the mummy crashes in front of her and starts reaching with one of his ribbon hands when something punches it into a nearby building. Total shock is written all over the girl and she looks up to find what has been able to touch it. She gasps again at the sight of the tall, red alien with four arms and wearing a white shirt with a black stripe and black jeans. It turns to the girl and asks, "Are you okay?"

The girl tries to run off but Fourarms shouts, "Wait! I'm here to help you!"

"Please, stay away!" The girl was about to run away again when a bandage grabs her and lifts the screaming mass up. Ben turns around and sees the mummy walking out of the giant hole in the wall, completely ignoring the alien. The hero snarls and yells, "Hey, toilet paper! Put the girl down before I make you!"

The mummy growls and sends another wrapping at the boy but he grabs it and tears it to shreds before rushing toward the alien. It takes a swing at the hero who blocks and swings an underarm with his under-arm which sends the mummy back into the building and forcing it to let go of the girl. She screams while she falls but Fourarms catches her in time. He asks, "You okay?"

"Who-who are you?" she fearfully asks, shivering in her boots.

"It's okay. I'm a friend."

"But you're a-"

A crash alerts the two of another presence and Ben turns around to find the mummy walking out of the carnage. It slowly hisses, "Give her to me."

"Not on your life. Or afterlife." The alien hero pounds the ground and sends a ripple of rock toward the mummy, pushing him back and weakening the destroyed wall. The alien turns around just when the building crumbles on top of him. Ben stares at the feat and says, "Not what I had in mind but oh well." He runs off with the girl in one large hand who asks, afraid of the answer, "where are you taking me?"

"To a safe place. Trust me." The red alien jumps over a building, a feat greatly impressing the girl, and lands on the neighboring road before running again. Soon, the tan Rustbucket appears and the alien says, "Almost there," when the hateful beeping is heard. "Oh man." He transforms back to human and collapses on the ground, a little sore from the jumping, and it doesn't help when the girl falls on top of him and knocking his breathe out. The girl groans and pushes herself up, looking down at the boy that replaced the red alien. She jumps back up and backs up, asking, "Who are you?"

Ben's answer is a strained groan, confusing her when a screech catches her attention. She turns and sees an RV stopping near and a redhead girl jumping out the door and running toward them, more specifically Ben. She stops next to her cousin and asks, "What are you lying around for? C'mon!"

The hero groans again, annoying Gwen greatly. "What is wrong with you now?"

"I think I may have knocked out his breath accidently," the girl answers.

The cousin looks at the girl and starts laughing, confusing the strange girl. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because it's funny! I mean, getting his air knocked out of his lungs by you? Ha ha!"

The girl hears cracking from the side and turns to find ribbons stretching out of the road. She turns and runs away but the witch shouts, "Hold on!"

She runs by the open door when large hands grabs her small figure and pulls her into the RV. Max shouts to his granddaughter, "Gwen, get Ben!"

She grabs her cousin's arm and puts it around her shoulder before running back into the Rustbucket and dropping him on the ground. "Oops," she says playfully.

"Place his arms above his head," Grandpa Max orders. The cousin complies before turning to the girl, who is cowering at the very back of the seat. "You alright?" she asks while her grandpa drives away from the wrapping mummy.

The girl nods her head and stretches the hood farther down her face, hiding her look even more.

"Hey, you don't have be scared of us. I'm Gwen. And you are?"

Something bumps the RV and shakes everyone inside, making the girl clutch onto the chair and table. "I'm scared," she whimpers.

Gwen reassures, "Don't worry. We won't let whatever it is hurt you." Suddenly, Ben gasps and coughs, pushing himself back up. "Weirdest sensation I've ever felt."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll feel other weird stuff."

An explosion appears on the left but Max quickly swerves away, almost crashing into a car and a mailbox, and accidently sending the alien morpher crashing onto the fridge. He rubs his head as a headache slowly grows while asking, "Do you have any idea why the mummy is chasing you?"

"No. One day, the mummy appears and started running after me all over the country." Another explosion shakes the Rustbucket and the girl covers her head for protection. "I swear, I didn't steal anything except food."

"Why were you stealing food?"

Gwen slaps Ben across the head, not knowing about the headache, and says, "Hello? She's homeless, Ben. It's not like she has a million dollars in her pocket."

"Well sorry. I can't really think straight with this headache."

Without warning, the RV halts and the ex-plumber looks in the mirror to see mummy wrappings holding on to the back and slowly brings the vehicle over despite the screeching of the wheels. "I don't think so." He presses a flashing button and the jets extend out the back, ripping the bandages apart then speeding away. The mummy slows to a stop and watches the back of the RV disappear. "You can run but I will find you. I will have the jewel." It unravels and seeps into the ground, chasing after its target miles away.


End file.
